College Life

Private Schools That Are Well Known for This Major

• Yale University
• Brown University
• Columbia University
• Cornell University
• Stanford University
• Williams College

State Schools That Are Well Known for This Major

• University of California—Berkeley
• University of California—Los Angeles
• Pennsylvania State University
• University of Oregon
• University of Michigan

Classes in the Major

Comparative Literature Seminars. These are the icing on the comp lit cake. Most schools offer an introduction to the major for sophomores or juniors who are late to declare (there's no shame in that), plus a senior seminar that brings the whole comparative experience together. In between these, a range of other comp lit seminars may be required. Typically, these courses address a broad theme and cover several national literary traditions. Alternatively, seminars in the major can cross media, bringing film into conversation with poetry or, say, placing video games alongside ancient epics.

National Language Seminars. These, in our humble opinion, are the next best thing after comp lit seminars. Since comp lit's the Choose-Your-Own-Adventure major, no two majors' paths to the degree will be identical. So you speak native Mandarin and have always wanted to learn Russian? Great. Nice to meet you. Sounds like you'd be a great addition to Comp Lit Land. Most likely, you'll want to make Chinese your major literature and Russian your minor literature.

What does this mean? Simply that in addition to taking the Big Seminars we just discussed, you'll also be in seminars with Chinese and Russian majors—more of the former than the latter, if you've made Mandarin your major.

Advanced Language Courses. Even if you begin the major as a heritage speaker in your major language, you'll likely want to brush up on your writing skills and/or advanced grammar. The same applies if you start having already taken five years' worth of French, maybe including AP, in junior high and high school. You'll still want to take a college-level composition course, or what's often called a "bridge course" to combine composition and literary study.

Introductory Language Courses. These are pretty self-explanatory: they're the flashcards-are-your-friends course that we've already warned you about. Don't let them scare you if you've got a thing for language learning, though. Flashcards can be fun for those so inclined, and as lots of language nerds will tell you, introductory courses can be a total blast. They often meet every day, which can be a drag if (a) you're not a morning person, or (b) your lifelong dream has been to major in beer pong, not the humanities.